Radiator funnel



G. A HORSTKOTTE; RADIATOR FUNNEL.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. Id; 192].

Patentgd June 20, 1922.

GARRY A. HORSTKOTTE, or BEND, OREGON, AssreNoR To ABBOTT, INCORPORATED, or BEND, o aEeON, A CORPORATION OF OREGON. Y

RADIATOR FUNNEL.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GARRY A. HoRs'rKoTrE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bend, in the county of Deschutes and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Radiator Funnels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automobile accessories, and has particular reference to a collapsible funnel carried by or within the neck of a radiator in positionto be drawn upward for use in filling the radiator with water or to be shoved downward within the neck to permit the cap to be screwed on as usual. I

This invention constitutes an improvement over a radiator funnel, the application for patent on which was filed by William E. Abbott, on April 16,1919, SerialNo. 290,477, and renewed September 22, 1921.

Among the objects ofthe present improve ment is to provide a construction adapted for quicker assemblage and more reliable form than the previous device, there being nosolder or the like employed in connecting the parts thereof.

Another object of the invention is to simplify the means for securing the fabric or the like constituting the main wall or body of the funnel, especially at its lower end.

lVith the foregoing andother objects in view the invention consists in the-arrangement and combination ofparts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a 'conventional radiator neck and cap, with the improved funnel in position therein.

Fig. 2 is a similar view with the cap removed and the funnel drawn upward in 0perative position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of'rthe funnel in the position of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail on the line 55 of Fig. 41.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings 1 indicate a radiator 10 having a Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d J 20 1922 Application filed NovemberlO, 1921.

Serial No. 514,305.

neck 11 to which'is screw threaded a closure cap 12. These parts'are-or may be of any well known construction.

As n the previous invention'the funnel comprlsesa flexible body portion 13 of fabno or its equivalent woven or otherwise formed with a large circular flaring upper end 14 and a relatively restricted lower end retained always within the neck. I also'indicate a plurality of flexible stays 15, shown as SlX in number and of spring material such as steel. Each of these stays has a; hook shaped upper end 16 within which the upper edge 14% of the funnel is drawn and clamped. The lower end of each stay is provided with an outward extension 17 calculated to serve as a stop in co-operation with an offset or shoulder 18 formed in the inside of the neck, when the funnel is drawn upward. The stays at some convenient point, about an inch above the offsets 17 are provided with inwardly directed projections 19, which are easily formed therein during the cutting and the shaping of the stays, the normal sha e of which is practically that of Fig. 2, the" upper ends thereof tending to spread apart to extend the mouth of the funnel automatically when the funnel is drawn upbands are calculated to nest one within the other with a tight fit and are preferably of equal width vertically. The inner band is provided with as many indentations, shown as rectangular holes 22, as there are stays, and the size of these holes corresponds to the size of the projections 19 of the stays. Since the stays are all of flat material of equal width or cross section and the indentations 22 are formed of a width corresponding to the width of the stays, it follows that when the stays are applied parallel to one another around the outside of the inner band, the projection of each stay extending into or lying within an indentation 22, and then with the outer band slipped thereover holding the projections in interlocking co-operation with the indentations, the stays can neither move up or down nor tilt laterally around the centers of the indentations. With the outer band 21 drawn into place with a tight frictional or driving fit, not only can the stays not move in any direction with relation to the bands but the outer band will be held in place without requiring solder or any other extraneous means to hold it in such position.

With the funnel body 13 formed of fabric or similar flexible material, its lower end may be conveniently and reliably held in position so as not to slip or creep upward along the stays, by means of a ring 23 of such material as round wire of a size to fit within the lower end of the stays but not to pass upward through the inner band 20. The lower end of the funnel may be looped or hemmed around the ring 28 as indicated by the stitches 24. The attachment of the funnel to the ring 28 isperformed prior to the drawing of the upper edge 14: upward into the loops 16, and thus the funnel body 13 is reliably secured within the skeleton or frame of the funnel.

I claim:

1. In a funnel, the combination with a bell shaped flexible body and a series of resilient stays to which the upper edge of the body is secured, of holding means for the lower portion of the stays comprising a pair of annular members one within the other,one of the annular members having holes therethrough while the stays have projections extending into said holes and held therein by the other annular member.

2. In a funnel, the combination with a flexible body and a series of spring stays of flat spring material to which the upper edge of the body is secured, of means for holding the lower ends of the stays in predetermined spaced relation to one another, said holding means comprising a band having holes there through of a width corresponding to the width of the stays, the stays being offset forming projections fitted into said holes, and means co-operating with the stays to hold the projections in said holes, thus preventing movement of the stays in any direction with relation to said band.

3. A funnel comprising, in combination with a flexible body and a plurality of spring stays to which the upper edge of the body is secured, means to hold the lower ends of the stays in predetermined spaced relation to one another and comprising an annular member having for each stay an indentation and the corresponding stay having a projection extending thereinto, and means co-operating with all of the stays to hold the projections thereof in said indentations.

4. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which the indentations consist of rectangular holes of a width equal to the width of the stays.

5. A device as set forth in claim 3 in which the holding means for the stays consists of a band extending around the stays on the outside of the member having the indentations.

6. In a collapsible funnel, the combination with a flexible body and a series of resilient stays to which one end of the body is secured, of means for holding the opposite ends of the stays in definite spaced relation to each other, such means comprising a pair of annular members held frictionally one within the other with the stays between them.

7. In a collapsible funnel, the combination of a flexible fabric body, means to hold the body in operative expanded position, said holding means including1 an annular member, and means to hold t e lower end of the body in downwardly extended position, said last mentioned means comprising a ring to which the end of the body is secured, said ring being of larger diameter than the interior of the annular member against which the ring is drawn.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature;

GARRY A. HORSTKOTTE. 

